George Clooney 'forced' into tequila business

George Clooney was "forced into" his tequila company because he ordered 1,000 bottles a year.

The 'Monuments Men' star and his friend Rande Gerber are such big fans of the fiery spirit, they decided to develop their own, Casamigos, but never intended it to be for public consumption until they had to "get legit" due to the vast quantities they were ordering.

Rande - who has children Presley 16, and Gaia, 13, with wife Cindy Crawford - said: "George and I started drinking tequila a very long time ago...

"There came a point when George said to me, 'Why don't we just make our own.' We never meant it to be a business.

"We started out just us drinking it, without anyone being able to buy a bottle.

"We were kind of forced into [making it a business], after about two years, we got a call from our distillery and they said to us, 'We have a situation. For the past two years, we've sent you a thousand bottles a year. Either you're selling it, or you're drinking way too much. You need to get licensed and get legit with the situation.'

"We drink a lot but we were giving it to friends and they liked it and gave it to their friends."

Despite their vast tequila consumption, Rande insists he and his pal - who married wife Amal last September - are "professional" drinkers and never get overcome by too much alcohol.

Asked which of their friends can drink the others under the table, Rande told 'Entertainment Tonight': "George and I are both professionals, we're never under the table, we're usually up above or on the table."